Late for School
by Renaisty
Summary: Vilgax challenged Ben on a school day; naturally, he was late. Ben reflects on the possibility of the exposure of his secret and the expression of his emotions.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10: Alien Force.**

**Late for School**

The chattering had yet to stop completely among the teens in the homeroom. A day before an alien had appeared at the screen, instead of the movie the professor had wanted them to see, saying that he challenged Earth's best warrior- its champion- to a battle that would decide the fate of the Earth, giving him twenty-four hours to prepare. The students had waited with baited breath all day, only to be disappointed when the feed cut off just before the warrior had got to the sight. The boys because they had wanted to see a good brawl, the girls because they were hoping the warrior would be beautiful.

Only one girl was not disappointed because of those reasons. Her name was Julie Yamamoto, and she knew who the champion was without needing Vilgax to prove it; no, what she was afraid for was her boyfriend, who was possibly fighting the Chimera Sui Generis at that very moment. She trusted him completely (after all, wasn't he who had saved the whole universe, as he recently got to bragging about) though she couldn't help but think of what the others had told her; Vilgax had got a whole lot of new powers.

As the lesson started begrudgingly, Julie's mind was a few kilometres away, not in the least caring what the professor had to say. She kept looking out of the window, worry etched in her features. She heaved a sigh of relief when the blue and black huge moth landed on the courtyard. She covered a chuckle as she saw the unlikely sight of an unmistakable green school bag hanging from his hand. Yes, it was funny, thank you very much! She only had to wait half a minute before a knock sounded in the homeroom.

"Come on in." said the professor.

The door opened almost hesitantly, and there stood a brunet around fifteen, with bright green eyes. He was lean, not particularly tall, but he radiated; contrary to what his appearance implied. To be blunt, he looked like he had just been to Hell and back. His green jacket was partially torn, his jeans were wet below the knees, and he had numerous small cuts and bruises (though the later were not visible) all over. He, however seemed not to notice, as if this was a regular occurrence; he actually seemed (and was) quite pleased with himself.

"Mrs. Johnson," he spoke uncertainly, "I know I'm late but, can I come in?" he asked. His voice was hoarse, as if he had been screaming.

She motioned for him to get inside the room. His eyes met Julie's horrified gaze, and he offered her an apologetic smile. She smiled back, hoping the wounds covered by his jacket and jeans were not too bad. She would have to bandage them up after school was over.

His relief was short-lived. When he started for the seat saved by his girlfriend she stopped him. He had _known _it was too good to be true.

"Where were you, young man? It's a good twenty minutes into the lesson! I demand an explanation!" she fumed.

He fidgeted awkwardly.

"Eh, you know… I was… about…" his voice trailed off uncertainly as he looked at Mrs. Johnson who was beside herself. She appeared to calm down quickly, however; _suspiciously_ quickly.

"Care to elaborate?" she spoke in a gentle voice that sounded more dangerous than if she had screamed. He knew he had to say _something_ or she would eat him alive. She didn't have _that_ bad of a reputation among the students for nothing. In fact, he did remember an incident about a month ago, involving George, a member of the soccer team. He had been in the exact same position as he himself was now (minus the dishevelled appearance) and… Let's just say it didn't end prettily.

"I, eh… kinda… got, um… sidetracked." he said in a small voice. The excuse was dumb and he knew it; in addition, Julie's shaking head ensured that fact. Damn, he should have thought of something before. Oh well, he was good at thinking on his feet.

"Sidetracked how?" There it was, the dangerous watch-what-you'll-say-or-I'll-give-you-detention-and-you'll-be-very-sorry-by-the-time-it-ends tone of voice. Then, an idea struck him; it was not perfect of course, only the truth is the perfect excuse, but as she didn't know the truth, it was the next best alternative. It was just like all the times they had been at a dead end about an alien.

"You see," he began eagerly, now that he knew what to say, "I was already running late, when I saw Vilgax in the widescreen, waiting for m- Earth's champion to start the fight. I wanted to see it, badly, I just didn't know I would be so late."

That was a downright lie, of course, except the fact that, after capturing Goop, Spidermonkey and Chromastone he _had_ almost been late. Maybe the twenty-four hours were not enough time to prepare. He mentally scowled at himself; he had been an idiot. And now Kevin was mutated because of him. He hadn't even had the decency to tell his best friend he was sorry. _'What kind of friend am I?'_ he chastised himself.

"And why, pray tell, do you look like _you _were fighting?" the teacher asked, an eyebrow raised in question.

"You know, stuff was flying everywhere, I just, got hit with various things. I had no time to change." he came up with something real quickly.

"We were about to see it but the images were cut off. Do you know who the champion was?" Michael asked.

"I-" he stopped. He had been about to snap 'I am!' at him. That would have been just perfect; trust him to ruin the façade with his arrogance. Oh, don't get him wrong, he enjoyed being a hero; most of the time. Nevertheless, he shouldn't give his identity away.

"I don't know. I didn't see him. Whoa, wait" he cried indignantly when they protested, "do you think any human would take on Vilgax and win? The champion came as an alien and left as one- a different one, mind you. He somehow has the ability to change into at least four different aliens; Jetray, Chromastone, Diamondhead-"

"You mean all these aliens in the news might be the same person?" that girl was so annoying. She kept trying to make a move on him even after he had made it perfectly clear that he was with Julie.

"It is possible; I don't know how many more aliens he might have up his sleeve. But he only helps people, so…" better give himself a good reputation.

"Did he win?" He looked at who had asked the dumb question. Of course.

"Well, since I'm still here… what do you think?" he near snapped.

"How was the fight?" That was George; always the adventurous type.

"It was not always clear what was happening, but, at one point, I thought all was lost. Chromastone was a thousand pieces and Vilgax almost got the Omni-something." he mentally sighed in relief, having cut himself mid-word. "I think that was the device that enabled the human to take the form of the aliens. Then, Chromastone pieced itself together again, changed into Diamondhead and kicked Vilgax's b- eh, I mean he defeated Vilgax," he tried to remember the fight. "He left him with a black eye!" he said proudly- a bit too proudly but no one noticed (or so he thought).

"Enough!" Mrs. Johnson ordered. The teen was silently thanking his lucky stars- he was getting far too much enjoyment out of this, he wasn't to get into the mood, he might even reveal everything in a moment of madness.

"Mr. Tennyson, go to your seat immediately! I expect you to stay for a while after school. It's not a detention. Now, we continue the lesson from where we had left off, no interruptions!"

"Hey, Tennyson," his classmates just _wouldn't stop_! Honestly, couldn't they leave him alone? Was that so much to ask for? And he couldn't even tell them what had really happened- which was the main problem. For a while there, he was tempted to just tell them everything and ask to be left alone in exchange for the revelation.

If his secret ever got out, it could be disastrous; but it also could be the exact opposite. He could be hated, or worshipped. Probably a little of both. He tried to imagine how being famous would be, and not only known by aliens, but by the people of Earth too. He would of course be impossible to be around, and his head would be the size of the Earth.

No, he was better off left alone. He didn't want this life, the life of a celebrity. He would have to put up a mask all the time. He snorted internally; he already had a mask on about 24/7, bar the time he was alone. He already pretended to everyone about who he was; if yet another mask got in the equation he didn't think he would be able to handle it. He couldn't be himself. People would lie about him, try to discredit him, rumours would be flying… He enjoyed anonymity, and he'd heard somewhere that fame makes people dimwits; he had a hunch it was Kevin who said it, but he was not sure.

At least, all the other famous people had wanted this; the singers, the actors, they tried to get attention. He had been like than once; five years ago, before he had found the Omnitrix, when he had been just a kid without friends, all he had wanted was for someone to pay attention to him. Even then, after he found out just how dangerous a life the bearer of the Omnitrix lived, he had only been excited about more attention.

He didn't know when this had changed. Maybe when he had first seen Vilgax. Maybe, even from the beginning, his mind had constructed a mask, one that covered all of his character; with the goal not to keep them safe, but to keep himself sane. They didn't have a clue as to how dangerous bearing the Omnitrix could be for the psyche of a ten-year-old human. The pressure of having to win, of people's lives on his shoulders; it was all too much for such a young mind. So he had acted like an idiot all the time- and he still did. He pretended it was all a big joke, with no real consequences. It made things easier to bear.

"Mr. Tennyson, I believe I have asked you a question!" the shrill voice of his History teacher rang through the silent room, almost frying his eardrums in the process. She was a very good teacher, but if you got her mad she could become pretty fearsome. He realised he had been about to fall asleep right then and there. He recognised the voice a second too late but, with his reflexes in excellent condition due to alien fighting, his head had shot off the desk and his hand had come to hover over the Omnitrix before his actions caught on with his brain. As soon as they did, he dropped his hand and his whole body relaxed.

His lessons that day had been increasingly hard to end. Each hour seemed to stretch on longer than the last. With the adrenaline from the fight waning, the sleepless night had caught up to him at a very unwelcome time. Between P.E. and Spanish he had managed to get a whole hour of sleep, but it was not nearly enough.

"Sorry Mrs. Green. I didn't get a good sleep last night." Curiously, she seemed to believe him, contrary to Mrs. Johnson. "What did you ask me?"

"It does not matter; I'll let it slide this time. But," her eyes flashed, "if you daydream again in my lesson you are in for a very unpleasant detention, Mr. Tennyson."

That's why he didn't spare a thought to just _what_ his façade was, preferring to just be concerned with keeping it up; every time he did, something bad happened. Julie had sprained her wrist at tennis practice the last time he had thought about it.

Julie. Julie was another story entirely. He personally thought it a miracle that she hadn't dumped him yet. Which girl would want a boyfriend so full of himself; let alone tolerate him for as long as she did. Was it because, sometimes- not a lot- he was himself around her? Could she understand that she was what was anchoring him to humanity? He loved her; he truly did, for everything she was. She was clever and beautiful and kind, good at tennis, strong-willed and supportive, understanding... He could probably stay there all day listing her good points.

When school ended they left together, ending up at Ben's home, studying for the next Physics test together. Halfway through the study session, Ben fell asleep, having decided to let it go for another night. There would always be other nights he could explain. For now, everything was alright.

**The End**

**A/N: His History teacher is actually based on mine. I'm really sad right now because she's left, and she lives a very long way from where the other school is. I don't like the new one at all! None of my classmates like her either, so it's not just me who's got a problem.**

**Started: 4/8/2011**

**Finished: 26/12/2011**


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